


Same Black Holes and Black Mistakes

by neutrinobomb



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Explicit Birth Scene, Latino Rick, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:03:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6407980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neutrinobomb/pseuds/neutrinobomb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Spring Break trip with new Alpha friends brings about an unexpected consequence for Omega Morty. Rick is the one he turns to, as usual, to help him figure out what to do when it starts to seem like everything is falling apart around him. (Title change now firm. Tags likely to change as the story continues)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rick Senses

Rick had been the first to notice.

Morty’s senior year of high school had come with quite a few changes: finally making varsity soccer, none of his grades slipping below B’s for once, and staying at school for a steady amount of time. And now there was something else. Every time he came home from soccer practice he had a lingering scent of an Alpha on him.

If Beth and Jerry noticed, they didn’t question it or worry about it. No doubt they were rather happy that Morty seemed to be making a friend outside of the family. They even gave him their approval to go with this new friend and his friends on a Spring Break trip despite Rick’s arguments against the idea. He watched Morty load up into the car with the other teens, muttering to himself and chugging down his usual bottle of alien alcohol.

Jerry and Beth spent the week with Summer looking at colleges she could transfer to for grad school. Rick would have enjoyed having the house to himself if it had been himself and Morty. Instead it was actually just himself. He spent all of his time in the garage, only leaving for the bathroom and a meal once a day.

It was just after lunch on Saturday when Rick heard a car door close. He pushed back from the experiment he was working on and looked at Morty as he stumbled in. At first he assumed it was from a hangover (the kid had just gone on Spring Break and it would be expected) but a closer look made him very concerned.

“M-Morty…you doEURGHon’t look s-so good,” Rick said as he got to his feet, eyes narrowing.

Morty licked his lips and shook his head. “I’m f-fine.” He was pale, swaying a bit on his feet, and his eyes couldn’t quite seem to focus on what he was looking at.

Rick cursed to himself and picked Morty and his bag up. “Y-Y-You went into Heat on the trip, didn’t you?”

Morty struggled weakly against being picked up before he accepted it. He nodded and let Rick carry him into the kitchen. “Y-Yeah…”

Rick set him on the counter and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. He uncapped it and made sure Morty sipped at it before he started looking in the cabinets for a quick snack that was filled with enough nutrients to give the kid a boost.

It was obvious what was going on. Those stupid Alphas hadn’t properly taken care of him. Obviously they had had sex but in between rounds, when things calmed down, no one had thought to get Morty water or food. An Omega’s body heat did rise and a Heat normally lasted three days. Not taking care of them could do serious damage.

“Th-Those Alphas are assholes, Morty. You realize they could’ve killed y-you, right? I mean, Jesus fuck, do they not teach ‘Taking Care of an Omega 101’ in health anymore?” Rick said in a huff, finally finding a package of cheese crackers.

Morty set the bottle down and accepted the crackers Rick passed him. It took him a little longer than normal to get the package open. He looked up at Rick and shrugged. “I-I-I don’t know…Our health classes were separate…It was talked about in ours.”

“But apparently n-not in the Alpha class. WoEURGHonderful. A w-whole generation of Alphas that’s going to wind up killing an Omega in Heat because th-they don’t think to grab a b-b-bottle of-of water and some damn-damn crackers.”

 Morty nibbled at one of the cracker sandwiches and made a small, noncommittal noise. Rick sighed and leaned against the counter next to him.

“C-Come on Morty,” he said softly, “Finish eating and I-I’ll help you to bed. You need to sleep. It’ll help.”

They lapsed into silence while Morty ate, both of them thinking over the events of the Spring Break. Morty slipped off of the counter after stuffing the last cracker in his mouth and he leaned against Rick as they made their way out of the kitchen and upstairs to his room. He didn’t really want to admit it, but he really was quite weak and he knew he was dehydrated. It didn’t seem to be too bad since Rick wasn’t rushing him to an alien hospital or forcing some alien medication down his throat.

Morty had never been more grateful to see his bed and he climbed into it eagerly. He made a soft noise as Rick adjusted his blanket around him and he gave the man a look. Rick shrugged and set the water bottle on his bedside table.

“What? It seemed like you couldn’t do it yourself,” he muttered.

Morty smiled tiredly and shook his head. “Th-Thanks, Rick.”

“D-Don’t worry about it, y-you little shit.” Rick double checked that Morty had water and that everything was fine before he left the room. He stood in the hallway for a few minutes until he was sure that Morty was sleeping and actually resting comfortably.

He dragged himself back to the garage and sat down at his work desk, staring at his experiment. He was glad that Morty was back and that he wasn’t going to require a hospital but he had sensed something different. Rick hadn’t quite figured out what it was at first but he realized now; Morty’s scent had changed. One of those stupid Alphas had managed to get Morty pregnant and probably had no idea.

Rick’s own mother had been born to young parents, and then him, and then him with Beth. It was an odd sort of family tradition they seemed to have. He thought it was changing though with Summer off at school and doing really well with her studies and Morty finally having a turnaround in school with his grades and the soccer team. They would be the generation to nip that tradition in the bud. Until now.

There was no way, though, that Rick was going to let Morty bond with the Alpha that had gotten him pregnant. He wasn’t going to have Morty sign away his life with an idiot the way Beth had. He loved his daughter and grandkids but she and Jerry did make a stupid, teenaged mistake. Morty wouldn’t have to follow that path. He wasn’t sure how he was going to keep it from happening but he was going to.

Rick managed to get back to his experiment but it was with a lot less fervor than he had had before. He heard the car pull up a few hours later and he sighed as he got to his feet. Jerry and Beth were back and were going to be asking about Morty. This was going to be fantastic.

_“Don’t worry so much. Always have faith, mijo.”_

“Yeah, you always knew what to say, didn’t you Mom,” Rick muttered as he grabbed a fresh bottle and left the garage.

“Hey, Dad. Oh, you’d love the school we found for Summer. It has a wonderful science department and with how well she’s been doing she’s already being guaranteed scholarships,” Beth gushed as she and Jerry walked into the kitchen.

“Yeah, th-that’s great,” Rick mumbled.

“Is Morty back yet?” Jerry asked. “His friend said they’d be back by lunch so they could rest tomorrow before going back to school and you know Morty’s going to need all the rest he can get.”

Rick snorted softly before he nodded. “Yeah, he’s upstairs asleep.”

“He’s already asleep?” Jerry asked in surprise.

“Well, duh. He’s having to sleep off a bit of a haEURGHangover.” Rick rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter.

“What?!”

“Oh come on, Jerry, it’s Spring Break. Did you honestly expect him not to touch a single drop of alcohol?” Beth countered with a small smirk.

“Well one could hope.” Jerry countered. Rick was in slight agreement with him. Morty knew his and Beth’s penchant for alcohol and he always hoped that neither him nor Summer would ever touch the stuff.

Beth shrugged as she prepared a package of pasta and a can of sauce. Rick eyed it with a bit of disdain. “Well we can’t go back and stop him. Knowing him, he probably made himself really sick and he won’t touch another drop.”

“Yeah, cause that worked well with you.”

Beth gave Rick a look but decided not to comment. Rick took his flask out of his coat pocket and filled it with the bottle he was holding. The atmosphere in the kitchen got a little tense and everyone went quiet until it came time for dinner.

“Someone go wake Morty,” Beth called over her shoulder as she went to set the table.

“IEURP’ll go get him.” Rick started to head towards the living room but he stopped when Morty stumbled into the dining room. He looked a little better than he had before but he definitely could use dinner and more rest.

“I-I’m here,” Morty murmured with a yawn. Beth crooned over him and hugged him tightly. Rick watched closely but she didn’t seem to notice any difference with him. Morty wriggled out of her grasp and sat down at his usual place at the table.

“Eat up Morty, you look like you need it.” Beth said, leaning over the table a little to spoon food onto his plate.

“Thanks, mom. It smells great.”  

Not quite how her mother would have made it but Rick had to admit that it did look good. He sat down next to Morty but he picked at his food. He was more focused on keeping an eye on the teen and making sure he handled the food well and didn’t fall asleep in it.

“So, how was your trip, Morty?” Beth asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

Morty swallowed hard and shrugged. “I-It was okay. We hung out at the-at the beach.”

“Oh the beach. Well that’s certainly better than any of my Spring Breaks,” Jerry chuckled. Rick rolled his eyes but he managed to keep his mouth shut.

“Heh, y-yeah I’m sure.” Morty fidgeted with what little food was left on his plate.

“Morty, you still look exhausted. Go on and go back to bed. You should feel better in the morning.” Beth said as she started to clear the table. Jerry made a bit of a face and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Thanks, Mom.”

Morty yawned hugely as he made his way back upstairs. Beth made a soft, cooing noise over him before taking the dishes into the kitchen. Rick got to his feet and headed into his room.

Rick never fell asleep easily. He tended to work long hours in the garage to pure exhaustion or drink himself to sleep. But tonight he couldn’t bring himself to work and he was a little put off of his drink. Not completely, but a little. He locked the door to his room and sat down on his bed with a sigh.

“…H-Hey, Mom, si estás allí…keep an eye out, huh? Morty siempre podia usar otro par do ojos sobre él.”

The room was silent but Rick felt a little better. This was going to work out. Maybe. Somehow.


	2. Everyone Knows

By Monday, Morty had managed to get over his hangover and get back into his school routine. He noticed over the next few days that Rick didn’t take him on interdimensional travels or even on adventures around town. He figured it was just either too boring to require his help or way too extreme and Rick didn’t want him in harm’s way. It was annoying but it had happened before.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened until about three weeks after Spring Break. Morty woke up nauseous. He had no fever and after sipping on a ginger ale and nibbling on a plain piece of toast, his stomach had settled down enough for him to head to school. He was still a bit weak and out of it so he stuck to his usual plan of not focusing in classes.

However, something caught his attention in his health class. They were reviewing a crap ton of material since a test was coming up and part of it was about signs to watch for after a Heat. He sat up ramrod straight in his desk. Oh no. Oh jeez.

This couldn’t be what was happening. Sure, he couldn’t quite recall what the three Alphas had done when he went into Heat but he was fairly sure that one of them had bought condoms. But had they been used each time? He racked his brain but he could not remember if they had even been used at all.

Morty was on his feet as soon as the bell rang and hurried to his locker to get what he needed and put away what he didn’t quickly. He needed to get out of school and get to a pharmacy or something.

He spoke to no one as he made his way down the street and to a nearby pharmacy. Morty managed to find the tests quickly and he grabbed two and took them to the register, hands fumbling as he grabbed his wallet to pay. The cashier just smiled softly to him and put them in a little brown bag and passed him back his change with a soft, “Have a good afternoon.”

Have a good afternoon my ass, Morty thought.

He shoved the bag into his backpack and jogged the rest of the way home.

When Morty got home, he was glad to see that his mom and dad were still at work and Rick was shut away in his garage. Normally he would stop in and see Rick when he got home but this time he took himself straight upstairs to his bathroom and locked the door.

“Oh jeez,” he mumbled as he took out one of the tests. This couldn’t actually be happening to him. At least the instructions were easy enough to follow.

 

Rick mumbled to himself as he worked on his portal gun. He had been trying to make some adjustments and tune-ups to it for a while now and he had finally found some time to look at it. He heard Morty come home and he waited expectantly for him to come to the garage but instead he heard him head upstairs.

“Odd,” he muttered.

Rick figured Morty would come see him when he was ready and he was almost done with the portal gun anyways. What he didn’t count on was Morty running into the garage with a packaged pregnancy stick and an unpackaged one.

“Rick!”

Rick jumped and looked over at the kid. “Morty? Wh-what’s going on?”

Morty held the pregnancy test in front of Rick’s face, so close the other had to go cross-eyed to really see what the hell was going on. “It’s positive! I-I-I-I don’t know what to do! Y-Y-You have to h-h-help me!”

Rick grasped Morty’s wrist and moved it back so he could get a better look at the test. It did show a positive result. Just like the change in Morty’s scent said it would.

“…Well…w-w-what do you want me to do? S-s-soup up the second test?” Rick said, trying to sound like his usual self.

But Morty could hear the shift in his voice and he narrowed his eyes. “You know something.”

Rick sighed softly and turned away from his work desk to fully face Morty. He took the tests from him and set them on the desk before gently taking Morty’s hands in his. “Your scent had been changing already,” he said softly, “Though it seems I’m the only one to notice.”

Morty whimpered softly and squeezed Rick’s hands. “So…So there’s no need for that second test…”

Rick nodded. “Right. It’s definitely positive.”

Morty sniffled and dragged his hand across his eyes. “I-I should’ve listened to you. S-S-Spring Break was a s-s-s-stupid idea. This wouldn’t be happening if I had just listened to you.”

“Morty, you wanted to have fun doing normal teenager things. Don’t resent that desire.”

“So…So now I just wait for-for Mom and Dad to get home and do a big sit down?” Morty asked softly.

Rick shrugged. “If that’s the way you want to do it.”

“I don’t think there’s really any other way. They’re not going to be happy,” Morty whimpered.

“ProEURGHbably not. But, hey,” Rick nudged Morty so the other was looking at him, “I’m on your side. No matter what. You have my word, as a Sanchez,” Morty smiled softly, “that I won’t force you or pressure you to do something you don’t want. Y-Y-You can come to me for advice and I’ll give it but you don’t have to take it if you don’t like it. Alright?”

Morty smiled a bit wider and nodded, wiping at his eyes again. “Alright. Thanks, Rick.”

“Sure.” Rick turned back to his worktable and picked up his portal gun. “I’ve finally made those improvements. Should work much better now.”

Morty grinned and held a hand out. “You adjusted the grip, too?”

Rick passed the gun to him and nodded. “Yep. Rubber, foam, then the metal instead of just rubber on metal. It’ll form to my grip but relax and reform to yours if needed.”

“This is so cool. It’s like I-I can really be a part of adventures now,” Morty said with a wide grin.

Rick smiled softly, a little sadly. “Yes, for a couple more months at least,” he murmured.

Morty’s smile fell a little. “Oh…right, yeah…” He should have known that with a pregnancy, if he kept it, that that would eventually make him vulnerable and a target on other planets and other dimensions.

“I’m sorry but I…” Rick swallowed. “I gotta keep you safe.”

Morty passed the portal gun back to Rick and smiled. “I know. You will.”    

Rick nodded and he set the portal gun aside to start on another project with Morty. He knew it would be a good distraction until his parents got back. He needed to keep the kid calm. It would be a big help to this situation.

The sound of the front door opening and closing reached the garage an hour into their work and Morty stiffened. He wasn’t ready but he knew he never really would be ready for this particular conversation. Rick gently squeezed his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. Morty returned it before heading out into the kitchen.

“Mom? Can I talk to you and Dad?”

Beth looked over at Morty and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Let me get your father from the living room.” She stepped into the living room and exchanged a few murmured words with Jerry before returning to the kitchen with him. “Alright Morty, we’re here.”

“Uhm,” Morty swallowed and glanced back at the garage. He saw Rick standing in the doorway, giving him a little encouraging smile. It bolstered him a little bit. He turned back to his parents and took a deep breath. “During Spring Break, I had my first real Heat. And now I-I’m pregnant.”

“What?!” Beth and Jerry screeched at the same time.

“How could-You know what your mother and I have gone through with a high school pregnancy,” Jerry said, almost shouting at the boy.

“It wasn’t like this was planned! I-I didn’t go on Spring Break with urges l-l-like you two did on Prom Night!”

That got him a little smirk from Rick.

“Alright, bit of a low blow but that’s fair,” Jerry muttered.

“Morty, what are you going to do?” Beth asked softly. “Do you know yet? There’s only a certain amount of time you have to get an abortion if that’s what you want to do.”

“I-I don’t know yet…” Morty mumbled.

Beth nodded firmly. “Right. Well, you do have time to decide. The only thing I have to insist on, no matter what you decide, is that you finish school. You only have a few months left anyways.” Jerry nodded his agreement.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Morty visibly started to relax and he offered his parents a small smile.

Beth returned the soft smile and hugged Morty tightly. “I love you. Dinner will be in two hours. You two be sure to wash up,” she said, giving a look to him and Rick as she nudged Morty back towards the garage. She knew how much his friendship with Rick meant to him.

“We will. Thanks, mom.” Morty followed Rick back inside the garage and shut the door, letting out a giant sigh of relief. “A-A-Alright. That went better than I thought…”

“It dEURGHid. But it’s not like they had a lot of wiggle room. C-Considering,” Rick murmured.

“Heh, true,” Morty said softly. “Thanks, Rick. F-For being there.”

“Don’t mention it, chiquito.” Rick fumbled for his flask and Morty rolled his eyes.

“I think I’m a little too tall now to be called chiquito.”

Rick snorted and looked the kid over. Morty had grown but he only came up to Rick’s nose. “Too bad. You’re still shorter than me. You’re stuck with it. U-U-Unless you want one like what I picked up along the way?”

“Oh? Like what?”

“For most of my youth I was known as ‘Quinqui’. IEURGHt means ‘delinquent’.”

Morty made a soft noise and frowned a little. What little he knew of Rick’s life before…well, before him had hinted at escapades similar to what they were already doing. But he hadn’t realized that it was always really that prevalent.

“C-C-Come on. Let’s finish this up before dinner.”

Rick pulled out Morty’s work stool and Morty sat down next to him to finish up the project they had been working on.


	3. Beginnings of a Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the wait but school and work and I lost some inspiration for this but it's back now! *fingers crossed*

As soon as Rick found out Morty was pregnant, he wanted to do something to the Alpha who had helped get him in this situation. However, asking the teen would have been useless as hindsight in a Heat is pretty much non-existent for an Omega. His scent wasn’t strong enough yet in its change to tell who the other parent was.

Finally, a week after Morty told his parents, his scent had finally cemented its change. And with that Rick had a new scent to follow. He got his chance a couple days later when Morty called him from school asking to be picked up.

Rick told Morty it would be about an hour as he was on a trip (blatant lie) and it gave him some time to search for that scent. He picked it up and followed it to the library. Remembering the Alphas that had been there to pick Morty up, this didn’t seem like the place for one of them to be. Unless they were using it as a hide away.

After looking carefully around the bookshelves, Rick found the Alpha at a table in the back reading a book. This was definitely him. The scent matched the new addition to Morty’s. Rick had to bite back the urge to just curse the kid out and beat him and instead pulled out his freeze gun.

Rick took a deep breath and on the exhale he pulled the trigger. The kid didn’t stand a chance and barely flinched when he was frozen. Rick sauntered over and glanced down at the book he was reading. His cell phone was hidden behind it. Of course.

“So you’re the little punk,” Rick muttered, circling around the kid back and forth in a semi-circle. “Don’t see whEURGHat’s so good about your genetics but s-s-something is apparently. Better hope someone doesn’t cause yEURGHou to tip over. Second frozen and shattered to death for a school isn’t a good look.”

Rick sauntered out of the library and headed for the nurse’s office. He played polite by knocking before he entered. Morty was curled up on a padded bench and Rick frowned. “Morty?”

The nurse looked up at him and she smiled softly. “He’s been sick and he’s pretty tired out. He already signed out, just need you to sign as well. Right here,” she pointed out a space on a form next to Morty’s signature and Rick quickly signed it.

“Alright. Come on, Morty,” he said softly, helping the kid sit up and grabbing his backpack for him. Morty groaned softly and leaned against him.

Rick helped Morty outside and into the ship. “Don’t get sick on the upholstery,” he muttered, only partially serious.

Morty smiled softly and shook his head. “I won’t. Promise. Thank you for picking me up.”

“Yeah, well,” Rick shrugged as he got into the driver’s seat, “If I’d left you there you’d bitch about it for l-l-like a week.”

Morty snorted and put his seatbelt on. “More like a month.”

Rick smirked and he glanced over to make sure Morty was settled before he took off. He flew it slower and much more smoothly than he normally did. If Morty noticed he didn’t say anything about it.

“H-Hey, Rick?” Morty called out softly after a few minutes.

“Yeah?”

“…No matter the choice I make…y-you’re going to support me? Right?” Morty asked haltingly, twisting his hands in his lap.

“I am.” Rick said firmly. “I promised.”

The rest of the ride home passed in familiar talks though it was a bit calmer and more subdued than usual. Rick parked the ship much more gently than normally and made sure Morty got out alright.

“I-I’m gonna go upstairs and rest. I’ll be down for dinner,” Morty said softly, fiddling with his backpack. Rick nodded that he heard and the teen shuffled off into the house and upstairs.

Rick followed after Morty but was looking for his daughter and her idiot. He found them in the dining room finishing up lunch. Beth looked up at her father with a bit of a frown.

“Is Morty okay? He went straight upstairs.”

“Yeah, he’s fine. Just a bit nauseous. You remember how that was in school,” Rick said with a bit more snark than he had intended. Beth’s eyes narrowed and he waved it off. “Sorry, sorry. Anyways, Morty shared some news with me.”

Jerry looked up from his tablet at that and Beth sat up straight. “News,” she asked, “what sort of news?”

“Look, I-I-I-I don’t know if I should tell you this, it is Morty’s to tell after-”

“Dad, I swear to God-”

“Alright! All I’m gonna say is that he’s made a decision. Somewhat. Mostly. Honestly h-h-he needs to tell you,” Rick shrugged.

Beth and Jerry looked at each other and in a couple of looks they communicated that they were sharing the same fear. Was Morty going to keep the child? Would there once again be an infant in the house when they had been so close to being empty nesters?

Rick left them to their musings and shut himself in the garage. He knew Morty would end up asleep and likely wouldn’t come down for dinner. He would wait until he heard the teen come back downstairs to leave the garage. Surely there was something he could work on that would distract him.

Morty lay down on top of his blankets without even toeing his shoes off. He remembered vaguely how exhausted he was when he returned from Spring Break but he had still been a bit out of his mind for that. Now he was fully present and good God he wanted to sleep for a week. At least.

He sleeps clear through dinner and when he does wake his clock is shining out 7:17 into his darkened room. He yawned hugely as he made his way out of his room and down the stairs. He could hear the TV on and judging by the show it had to be his parents. He sighed softly, knowing that there was no way he was just going to sneak past them.

“Mom? Dad?”

Beth looked over quickly at the call and she got up immediately. She made a soft noise and pushed Morty’s fringe back from his face like she always did when he looked unwell.

“Oh, Morty, you look worn out. Are you hungry? There’s a plate for you if you want it.”

“What is it?” Morty asked, a bit muffled by his mom’s hands still fretting around his face.

“Your favorite: chicken and dumplings.”

Morty smiled softly at the sweet thoughtfulness. He knew his mother wasn’t the best at cooking and chicken and dumplings was rather time consuming. “Thanks, mom.”

Beth ushered Morty into the dining room and she threw a look over her shoulder to Jerry. He sighed softly and turned the TV off. He felt they should probably let Morty eat, maybe wake up a bit more, before trying to interrogate him but there was no fighting a Momma Bear.

Morty sat down at the table and waited for Beth to bring him the reheated food. The noise in the kitchen brought Rick out of hiding and he nudged past his daughter to go sit next to Morty.

“Well, well, wEURGHll, look who finally w-woke up,” Rick said with a small smirk and a ruffle to Morty’s hair. The teen stuck his tongue out at Rick and chuckled.

Beth set the bowl in front of Morty and sat down across from him. “There you go. Should still be alright like that.”

Reheated dumplings were a little unappealing but it still tasted alright. It wasn’t turning his stomach over though so that was definitely appealing.

“So, Morty,” Beth started as gently as possible. Jerry was standing a bit further away and it seemed that he was going to give this up completely to Beth. “Have you made a decision?”

Morty froze and he didn’t raise his eyes from his bowl. He could feel Rick tense a bit next to him and he had the damndest feeling that the other had said something. Oh, he was not going to let Rick off easy for that.

“I…I, y-y-yeah, sort of,” Morty said softly. He pushed a piece of chicken around in the bowl for a few moments and swallowed hard. “…I’m not getting an abortion…”

Beth and Jerry sighed and she made to reach for Morty’s hand but stopped halfway across the table. “You’ve decided to keep it?”

Morty shook his head. “No, not really…I’ve just decided not to have an abortion…”

Beth looked at Jerry and could barely contain the sudden fire in her eyes. Silently, though taking quite a bit longer than she thought, she managed to get Jerry sharing her same thoughts with a few looks. Morty hadn’t decided yet to keep the child. They had time to persuade him to adoption. Save all their lives from the same mistakes they had made.

“Alright, Morty. Finish eating and then you should probably go back to bed,” Beth said softly as she got to her feet. Jerry reached out to squeeze Morty’s shoulder before he followed her up to their room.

Morty side-eyed Rick and he frowned. “You said something.”

Rick raised a brow and took his flash out of his coat. “N-N-Now w-w-wh-why would you-you-you say that?”

“Because your stutter gets worse when you’re backed into a corner,” Morty hissed. Rick attempted to snark back but it was true and he had to concede that point. “You-You couldn’t just let me find a good time to tell them.”

“And that would have been when? I-I-I bet you would have waited until the birth to tell them. I sped the p-p-process up.”

Morty huffed and stood to put the rest of the bowl back in the fridge. “You owe me big for this,” he huffed.

Rick smiled softly when Morty couldn’t see him. He had an idea for how to pay Morty back for essentially outing him to his parents. He just hoped the teen thought it as good an idea as he did.

 


	4. I'll Search the Skies For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not realize I had only posted the first three chapters X_X I am currently working on the 6th! School was hectic this semester (research paper, nough said), but the season premier helped me come back to this so let's continue!

Morty groaned softly and his eyes fluttered open. It was too damn early; the sun wasn’t even up. At least it was Saturday. He stumbled across the hall to the bathroom as quickly as his sleep-addled body would allow him. He knelt in front of the toilet and heaved. There was nothing to bring up but bile though and it was a rather unsatisfying feeling.

The morning sickness finally calmed and he flushed the toilet. He stayed put on the floor though, scrubbing his hands over his face.

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened up. Rick squinted a bit at Morty and he sighed softly. “Y-Y-Y-You look like shit,” he muttered.

“Thanks, Rick,” Morty mumbled behind his hands with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

Rick snorted and wet a washcloth with cool water. He knelt down next to Morty and nudged his hands away from his face. He used a corner to wipe off Morty’s mouth before gently sponging the sweat away. “Better?”

Morty sighed softly and nodded. “Better. Don’t make me brush my teeth.”

Rick snorted out a laugh and shook his head. “I won’t. I know better.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. He handed a stick to Morty and helped him to his feet. “I bet you’re n-n-not getting back to bed.”

“No,” Morty sighed. “At least it’s Saturday.”

“Yes it is. I have a surprise for you,” Rick said with a smirk, tugging Morty out of the bathroom. The teen groaned and shook his head. “You’ll like it. It’s to make up for what I did.”

“Better be worth it if you’re going to take me out before sunrise.”

Rick nudged Morty into his bedroom. “I-I-I-It will be. Get dressed and-and-and meet me in the garage.”

Morty sighed but he went to his closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt like Rick said. He slipped his shoes on and crept quietly down stairs to the garage. Rick had put a note on the fridge for Beth and Jerry and Morty felt a bit better. He wasn’t going to give them a heart attack then when he didn’t show up for breakfast.

“Come _on_ , Morty,” Rick called and Morty hurried into the garage. Rick was waiting with an open portal and he held his hand out to Morty.

“Where are we going?” Morty asked with a bit of trepidation as he looked at the unknown portal.

“Just trust me, a-a-a-alright?” Rick asked with a bit of impatience in his voice. Morty smiled softly and took Rick’s hand. He was guided into the portal and there were a few seconds of swirling green before he stepped out onto grass.

Morty blinked a couple of times as he looked around. The mountains around them seemed to be twinkling in the early morning light and he moved closer to a boulder that appeared to have tumbled off one. It took him a few moments to realize that it was made of gems. His eyes widened and he looked around further. There was a lake not far off and the water in it was a shade of pastel pink. The grass was softer than any back on Earth and Morty couldn’t help but toe his shoes off.

“Oh Rick…what is this place…where did you find it?” He asked as he looked up at Rick who was watching him with an amused little smile.

“Gimtana. I found it years ago. Was saving a trip out here for the right time.”

Rick directed Morty towards the lake and he flopped down in the grass. Morty laughed a little and followed suit. The sun of this planet was rising steadily now and starting to warm them up. Morty turned his face towards it and closed his eyes as he basked in the warmth.

“Mmm, apology accepted, Rick,” Morty said after a few minutes just lying there.

Rick smiled and squeezed Morty’s shoulder in silent thanks. He started to drop his hand but his gaze zeroed in on Morty’s torso. His fingers settle over and press lightly on Morty’s stomach.

“Wh-what the hell, Rick?” Morty cried out as he pushed Rick’s hand away. He hadn’t been expecting to be pawed over while on this break from Earth.

Rick removed his hand but he gestured to Morty’s torso. “Y-You’re showing.”

Morty made a soft noise and looked down at his t-shirt covered stomach. He had to admit that his jeans did feel a bit snug. He lifted his t-shirt a bit and laid his hand over the bump under his belly button. He pushed down lightly and his eyes widened at the firmness he was met with.

“R-Rick…”

“That’s them,” Rick said softly, watching Morty closely.

“They’re right there,” Morty said with a bit of a chuckle. “They’re real.” The mood seemed to almost immediately turn as soon as those words left Morty’s mouth. “Th-They’re real…” His breathing started to quicken and turn shallow.

“M-Morty. Morty!” Rick knelt next to him and put his hands on the teen’s shoulders, getting him to meet his gaze. “You’re a-a-alright. Y-y-y-y-you’ve got time. You graduate in a week. O-o-o-one less thing to worry about.”

Morty sniffled and nodded. Rick sighed softly and wrapped an arm around the kid. “It’s alright,” he repeated softly.

Morty stayed pressed against Rick’s side for a few minutes and just relaxed. Rick was right after all. He was about to be done with high school and that would certainly take care of some of his stress. And he still had a little over six months left in the pregnancy. He had time.

Rick pulled back only once he felt Morty finally relax. They were able to really enjoy the mini vacation once he stopped his questions about the pregnancy. Before they left, Rick picked up one of the rocks from the surrounding mountains and turned it over until he found a suitably sized gem that he liked. Morty watched with a raised brow as Rick worked on it until it came away from the rock. Rick presented it to Morty and shrugged.

“Red Diamond. EURGHssentially the most e-e-expensive gem on Earth.”

Morty’s eyes widened as he turned the palm sized diamond over and over in his hands. “Rick…wh-why?”

Rick shrugged and headed back towards the flat plain they had landed on. “C-C-Call it a gift from great-grandpa.” That size had to be at least four hundred carats as it was in that rough form. Morty and that child, if he chose to keep it, would be set for life once that was sold.

Morty cradled the gem close as he followed Rick through the portal and back into their garage. He set it down on Rick’s work desk and he swallowed.

“R-Rick…could you get this cut down? S-So it could be wearable?”

Rick made a soft noise and nodded. “Y-Yeah, I think so. Why? D-D-Don’t wanna try to sell it aEURGHs is?”

Morty smiled softly and set a hand on the gem. “I could b-b-b-but I want a piece to-to-to wear,” he said softly.

Rick blinked at Morty a couple of times before he swallowed. “S-S-Sure, yeah. I can do that.” He hadn’t pegged Morty as the kind to wear jewelry but he did have to admit that this gem would be rather sentimental to the kid. And if that kid was anything, he was sentimental.

Morty smiled once more at Rick and headed into the kitchen. His parents had already left for work but there was a still-warm piece of toast and bacon for him. He took the plate upstairs to his room, ready to settle down for the rest of the day.

There on his nightstand was an adoption agency’s brochure.


	5. Missed the Static in Your Eyes

Morty’s whole family came to his graduation, including Jacob. He had taken a few of the red diamond cuts to an auction without his family’s knowledge. That money had quickly been put into an account that Rick had with an alien bank. It would earn more interest that way. He had also taken two of them to a jeweler to be made into signet rings. Why he had made the second one, he still wasn’t sure, but the ring that fit him glinted on his hand as he walked across the stage to accept his diploma and when he reached up with his class to move their tassels.

This was it. He had made it through high school.

His parents were the first to reach him after the ceremony and hugged him as tightly as they could. His grandparents, and Jacob, were next and then Summer. She wasn’t able to stay the night as she needed to be back at her college to finish up her research project but Morty was glad that she was able to be there for any length of time. Rick didn’t hug him but he did clap him on his back and flick the tassel in his face.

Morty rode with Rick back to the house for the graduation party. Even though he had gotten more popular in his last two years of school, he declined to go to the larger party or invite anyone else over. He had been avoiding the Alphas he had gone on Spring Break with and didn’t want to possibly run into them at a party.

“Alright, now I did the cooking,” Jerry said proudly as he led everyone inside, “We got sliders, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and of course the cake.” He gestured proudly to the cake in the middle of the dining table and Rick snorted.

“B-Ba-Bakery cake,” he muttered to Morty and the teen bit his lip to keep from laughing.

The party was great. It was an uninterrupted two hours of pure fun and relaxation. No one mentioned his pregnancy or asked him what he was going to do about it. There were better things to do. He got to hear about Summer’s dorm roommate and her research. He got caught up on his grandparents’, and Jacob’s, latest vacation to Europe for a Viking River cruise. He felt normal again.

Once the guests left though, it slowly started to creep back in. The odd tension that had shown up when Morty had told his parents that he wasn’t going to terminate his pregnancy was starting to show up again. It seemed like his mom just kept watching him, waiting for him to say…something, apparently. Tucked into the group of cards and gifts was another adoption agency brochure and when he went upstairs to bed there was a pamphlet on the pros of adoption.

The weird, slightly creepy, brochure and pamphlet leaving had increased in the past few days as his graduation neared. He had wondered at first if it was Rick. He figured this may just be too sensitive of a subject for Rick to outright approach him about adoption and how he felt about it.

But his parents’ behavior had him dismissing that thought.

“What a life…” he muttered as he settled down for bed.

 

Rick still let Morty sleep in the next morning but almost as soon as the teen was awake he was tugging him into the garage. “C-C-Come on, Morty, I need your help.”

“The hell, Rick?” Morty mumbled. “Thought you said no more-n-n-no more adventures.”

“Th-Th-This doesn’t count, MoEURGHty,” Rick said as he opened a portal. “S-Straight there and back, no flying around.”

Morty sighed but followed Rick through the portal. He looked around and raised a brow. They were in a room that had a couch in it and bare, dark red walls. It didn’t look like any place they had gone before.

“Rick…what’s going on?”

Rick sighed softly and nudged Morty over to the couch. “It’s a private place…you can tell your thoughts and feelings to a stranger…it’s usually easier than telling them to someone you know.”

Morty looked up at Rick and frowned. “I tell you everything though…”

“Now you don’t expect me to believe that, do you?” Rick said with a small chuckle. He squeezed Morty’s shoulder and stepped out of the room.

It was only a few seconds later that the door opened and an alien entered. At least, Morty was sure it was an alien. It looked like a large teddy bear and it sat down on the floor in front of the couch. Morty frowned and stared at it for a moment. The bear tilted its head and seemed to watch him but it was hard to tell since its eyes were a void of black.

“Ah…geez, what the hell,” Morty mumbled.

The alien held still and really started to seem like a stuffed bear. Morty had one when he was a little kid and he carried it everywhere with him. The longer he watched this strange alien the more Morty felt like it was his childhood toy and this was just a weird dream.

“…Y-Y-You know, I’m pregnant now, Spyke…This…This wasn’t what I had planned…” Morty frowned a little and slumped a bit. “I…I didn’t want this to happen…I j-j-just liked having friends…I didn’t mean for Spring Break to happen. But it did. A-And I made the choice not to a-a-abort.”

He paused and really thought over what he just said. “I…I couldn’t kill it…I’ve killed before but this…this is different…but I still don’t know if I…if I want to _keep_ them…”

Morty sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Someone doesn’t want me to. I keep finding these…brochures and pamphlets about adoption…one was in my cereal bowl…I don’t know who’s doing it but I wish they would stop…”

Morty lapsed into silence. There was a lot more he could talk about. Things that were illegal. Things that were sinful. Instead he decided to keep them buried as his secrets for a little while longer.

The alien seemed to sense that he was through with talking. It pushed itself to its feet and waddled out of the room. Morty watched him go with the smallest of frowns.

A few minutes later, Rick came in but his usual swagger seemed a bit deflated. “A-Alright MoEURGHTy…l-l-l-let’s go home.”

Morty frowned a little as he got to his feet. “That’s it? I-I mean…I know you said that-that-that’s what would happen but…that’s it?”

Rick paused and he looked at Morty over his shoulder. The kid had just spilled his guts to a stranger. Perhaps heading right back home was not the right way to end this. What did he know, though? Maybe Morty was just playing it up for him.

“Sure you wanna go somewhere else? Y-Y-You up for it?”

Morty huffed and nudged Rick. “I’m not a little kid. I can handle going somewhere else.”

“Alright.” Rick pulled out the portal gun and aimed it at the wall. “So, whEURGHre do you wanna go?”

Morty thought it over for a few moments. He wanted somewhere quiet and peaceful. So not only did that rule out going back home but it ruled out many places he and Rick had been.

“…I wanna go back to the lake…The one we went to with those gemstones,” Morty said softly.

Rick nodded and input the universe coordinates before creating a portal. He let Morty go first through but he was following closely. He saw the teen heading off to the edge of the lake and he looked around to make sure it was safe for them. This planet usually was but he was just so used to checking.

Rick lay down next to Morty and for once just was. Morty already had his eyes closed and was relaxing into the soft grass. Rick slowly followed suit and he had been lying in the grass with the warm sunlight on his face when Morty broke the silence.

“…Thank you, Rick. I…I don’t know what was up with that alien but…you were right. I needed to talk to a stranger. I think I see now why people have therapists.”

Rick sighed softly. “Yeah, that’s not that particular race’s usual form. They’re more of a beige, shapeless blob. Cinmoveos. They’re able to analyze a subject and take on the form of something that person finds the most comforting, most attached to.” He smirked a little. “Who knew yours would be your old teddy bear Spyke.”

“Shut up.” Morty reached out in a lazy attempt at swatting Rick’s arm.

The two stayed put on that planet until nearly dinner time. Morty even took a bit of a swim in the lake after he had Rick analyze it to make sure it was safe. While he swam he could feel Rick’s eyes on him but chalked it up to the fact that Rick was seeing his expanded belly for an extended period of time.

Rick portaled them back into the garage and they headed into the house rather amiably. The day had ended up being fun and comfortable and Morty was in a good mood.

Beth looked over from where she was watching TV and she quickly got to her feet. “I was wondering where you two were. Morty usually leaves a note.”

Morty shrugged. “Blame him. I barely woke up and we were gone.” He had spent all day in what were really his pyjamas and he was really looking forward to cleaning up. He made his way upstairs and Rick heard the door to his room close.

Rick cleared his throat and turned to fully face Beth. “Why are you doing it?”

“Wh…What are you talking about?” Beth asked, but there was too much positive lilt to her voice and Rick’s eyes narrowed.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Y-You’ve been leaving adoption pamphlets everywhere. First I thought Jerry was involved but if he is its only because you told him to. Th-Th-This is more spineless than cowardly.”

“Hey! I am not spineless!” Beth countered, taking a step towards her father.

“So you’re admitting it,” Rick crowed triumphantly. “Where you ever going to just sit down and fucking talk to him? He-He-He’s your son, not some stranger at a med clinic!”

“Hey, so what’s for…what’s going on?”

Beth and Rick turned to look at Morty at the top of the stairs. The teen had a change of clothes and a fresh towel, obviously getting ready for a shower. Rick turned back towards Beth and glared at her.

“Tell him.”

“Huh? Tell me what, Mom?” Morty asked softly, the question still managing to carry down the stairs.

Beth started to fidget and she couldn’t quite meet Morty’s gaze. “It’s…I… _I_ am the one leaving the pamphlets for you.”

It seemed all the air was sucked out of the room. A pin could have dropped across the house and they would have heard it.

“You…You’re the one that’s been doing this…” Morty dropped what he was holding and he started down the stairs.

Rick realized just how angry the teen was and quickly stopped him from getting down the stairs. He hadn’t seen the kid this angry in years. The last time was probably on the purge planet. Rick restrained him as much as he felt comfortable doing in his state.

“You’ve been doing this?! Do you know how weird it felt?! How violating?! In my backpack! My bowl! God, in my GRADUATION GIFTS!” Morty looked up at Rick and then back to Beth. “You couldn’t just talk to me? Like a normal family?”

“We’re far from normal-”

“Screw you! Pushing me so hard for adoption, why didn’t you do it instead! Save us from all of this!”

“Morty,” Rick hissed into his ear, “Stop right now. E-E-Even I know that’s a step too far.”

Morty huffed and pushed at Rick’s chest and his grandfather let go of him quickly. He shot one last glare at his mother before stalking back upstairs. A door slammed shut and Rick knew the boy was back in his room.

Rick sighed and looked at Beth. “The pamphlets? They stop.”

Beth swallowed and nodded.

Rick narrowed his eyes and watched her for a few moments before he headed upstairs. The state Morty was left in did not need to continue. Rick had seen enough of this mood on the purge planet. He really didn’t want to see the kid do it anymore.

Rick gave one sharp knock on the door before he opened it. He expected to see Morty on his bed or under his blankets. What he didn’t expect was to see him packing a bag.

“Uh…Morty? WhEURGHt the hell are you doing?”

“I should have listened to Summer,” he muttered as he shoved a pair of jeans into the bag. “Her and her roommate are planning to get an off-campus apartment. She gave me an offer to move in.” He slumped his shoulders and looked very downtrodden.

Rick sighed and put an arm around Morty. “Y-Y-You’re going to move in with your sister while you’re expecting?”

Morty wrapped an arm around Rick and leaned against him. “S-S-She gave me an out and I-I turned it down. L-Like an idiot. We all know how our home life is.” He suddenly pulled back with Rick’s portal gun in his hand. “But no, not going to Summer’s.”

Rick’s eyes widened and he pat all of his pockets. “Wha-Oh, I should _not_ have taught you how to pickpocket!”

“Probably not, but thanks for that skill.” Morty pulled up a random universe and aimed the gun at the wall.

“Morty, wait! This is a horrible idea! You can’t do this!”

Morty picked up his bag and stepped towards the portal. He turned to face Rick. “I can and I am. You won’t stop me. You _can’t_ stop me.” He knew the Alpha was not going to tackle a pregnant Omega to the ground. Rick had some sense of tact and pride after all.

Rick’s hands clenched. Little shit was right. All he could do in that moment was watch as Morty lifted his chin before turning towards the portal and stepping through.


	6. No Pain That I Won't Go Through

_“Oh Dios mio…que poco mierda…”_

Rick stood stock still in Morty’s room for a few moments in shock before he was suddenly a ball of energy. He needed another portal gun. Now.

Beth turned towards the weird sounds as Rick practically flew down the stairs and to his garage like a bat out of hell. “Dad?” She hurried over to his garage to find the door locked. “Dad? Dad let me in! What’s going on?!”

“Morty stole my portal gun! I’m going to get him. I need you and Jerry to just sit down and shut up!”

Rick was sure he had a spare portal gun lying around. Somewhere. He checked his usual hiding places before he really started to tear his lab apart. There had to be a second portal gun. An outdated version he had tinkered with to create his current one. Right?

Nearly an hour of tearing his things apart and sweating later brought him to the conclusion that there was not a second portal gun. He would have to make one. From the rubble of his things he started to find the needed parts.

His elbow thudded into a box and knocked it off the shelf. Rick glanced at it and saw that it was his “time travel stuff” box. Eh, might be something useful in there. He started to root through the things that fell out and came across a signet ring.

“Wh-Wh-What the hell?”

Rick picked up the ring and looked at it closely. He knew that stone. What it was doing cut into a ring was a good question. A tag was tied to the ring and on one side had his name. He turned it over and frowned a little.

 

Rick 

Still not sure why I had this made. Think it’s easier to say it this way than with words.

But might as well try.

I love you.

Morty

 

Rick stared at the tag for a few more seconds before he ripped it off and tucked it into a pocket. He slid the ring on his finger and went back to searching for parts for his portal gun.

 

Rick didn’t sleep. Rick didn’t eat. Rick did things he was not going to admit to about his bathroom habits. He had to go save Morty. Sometimes that kid’s emotions got the better of him and he suddenly turned incredibly impulsive. Like him.

Rick tried not to think about those similarities.

He kept pushing himself to get this portal gun made. God knows where Morty could have ended up. He was sure that Morty had went on a universe jump and not just stayed with his first choice. That would be too easy. He would be able to track Morty down faster if he stayed put. Add a few more jumps and it was going to be harder.

Beth and Jerry were worried, not only for Morty but for Rick. He was still locked in his garage and the doors were still locked. It stayed that way for nearly two weeks before Beth noticed that the garage was eerily quiet. A flood of terror ran through her and she managed to break down the door to find Rick.

Unconscious on the floor.

One call to 911 and Rick was admitted to the ICU for hypovolemic shock and renal failure. He was kept sedated for the first few days as the medical team worked to get him rehydrated and his body functioning again.

Once Rick was conscious he was adamant about getting back home. These doctors and nurses had no idea how important it was. Damn his body, he needed to get Morty. He had no idea if he would even be finding him alive. He could be going after a corpse. But he had to bring him back.

Beth somehow managed to talk him down. Morty had gone on hundreds of trips into the multiverse with him. He had left impulsively but he was far from a naïve traveler. Besides, if Rick was gone then there was no one to bring her baby boy back.

Rick reluctantly agreed and he ended up staying in the hospital for nearly a month as his body was slow to regulating. Once he was able to return home, however, he threw himself back into the work and kept Beth and Jerry locked out again. He had been so close to finishing the portal gun before he had collapsed.

It took just two more days for him to finish it. He held it close as he got to his feet and looked at the calendar. Almost two months since Morty left. He would be about seven months along. Certainly he would have stayed put once he started to get this big. As long as he stayed put now, Rick was sure he would find him.

Rick left a note for Beth before creating a portal. He grabbed a bag of supplies and stepped through to find his Morty.

 

Morty stepped through that first portal and right into that butt world. Why was his luck that that was always the first place he ended up? He quickly created another portal and hurried through it.

He lost count of how many portals he went through but he thought it was the 27th portal that brought him to this planet. The portal gun made a weird whirring and fizzing sound in his hand before suddenly powering down. He slumped to the ground as if following the tech in his hands.

Morty was exhausted from the running and he was so hungry. He should have had dinner, what, two hours ago? Maybe. He had no idea what time it was back on Earth.

A familiar mechanical noise reached him and he frowned a little as he shielded his eyes from the sun. There was no way. It couldn’t be. What were the odds he would end up on this planet?

“Is that…Is that my Morty?”

“S…Snowball?”

The dog gave a little bark before going back to his mechanized voice. “Morty, my Morty, you came to visit. I thought it would be impossible.”

Morty smiled and got to his feet. He grinned as Snowball gave him a little doggy kiss to the forehead. “I never thought I’d get to see you again. Heh, this is great!”

Morty followed Snowball out of the little field he had ended up portalling to and to the society the dogs had built. He looked around in wonder at what they had done. Some dogs, like Snowball, were still using their mecca suits but others were just walking around like regular dogs. There were overlarge communal hydrants and a dog park on every corner. It really did look like a dog’s utopia.

Snowball had his own house and it looked very familiar. It took Morty a few seconds to realize that it was based off of their house back on Earth.

“Please, come in, Morty. You are welcome here.”

 

Rick was about to start pulling his hair out. He had traveled for days across different universes and had only gotten a few that remembered seeing Morty. He had to stop every so often to recharge his hastily thrown together portal gun. The only plus side was that he was able to take those universes off the list once he knew Morty was somewhere else.

He grabbed a quick lunch (his first in two days) at his last portal hop and was ready to try again. He had taken nearly two hundred planets and universes crossed off. His odds were looking a little better.

The numbers that came up on his portal gun looked familiar but he could not remember for the life of him what it was. Must not be too important. He shot a portal into the street and dropped down.

Down onto a giant fire hydrant.

“What the-?”

A chorus of barks grabbed his attention and his eyes widened. There were dozens of dogs crowding around the hydrant to look at him. Some in mechanical suits.

“…No way…”

Rick shimmied down the hydrant and was doing his best to _not_ think about what he was pressing against. Once he was on his feet, the dogs pressed closer to sniff at him and find out who he was. He ignored most of them and turned towards the dogs that were in mechanical suits.

“Have you seen this fresa?” he asked as he held out the recent picture of Morty he had been showing to any sentient being that could answer him.

“Fresa? No, that’s Morty.” A Dachshund pressed forward to look closer at the picture and a Husky quickly followed.

“Morty? Yeah, that is Morty! Snowball’s got him at his place.”

The Husky’s mechanical arm pointed at a house on a hill and Rick grinned. He had tracked him down. These dogs had not only seen Morty but they knew he was still here.

“Thanks guys! Wish I had a treat for ya!”

Rick weaved through the mass of dogs before running off towards the house. Word must have spread because the dogs were leaving him alone but they were all watching. Jeez, how long had Morty been here? These dogs were very curious about what he wanted with their human pet.

Rick burst into the house but it was empty. He was about to pitch a fit until he realized that there was a large garden out back and its door was open. He followed suit and jogged through the twisting path until he heard voices.

“Morty,” he called out as he rounded a hedge. Morty and Snowball were right there in front of him watching a fountain. Morty was here. He was alive and well.

Morty looked up and his eyes widened. “R-Rick?”

“Culero! I have been up and down the multiverse looking for you! Do you know how bad an idea this was? Me cago en la leche!”

“You didn’t have to come after me!” Morty got to his feet in a huff though it was harder now than before.

Snowball glanced between them. “I’ll go check on the house…” He shuffled off though his mechanical suit was rather loud as he did so.

“Of course I did! Mierda, for all I knew you ended up dead! No-No-No way I could just leave you wh-wh-wherever you ended up! Your mom would have killed me! Especially if you were dead and rotting on some godforsaken planet!”

Morty frowned a little as Rick ranted and raved. His attention was caught by a glint on Rick’s hand. He finally reached out and wrapped his hand around Rick’s wrist and tug his hand closer. Rick’s raving sputtered to a stop and Morty’s eyes widened.

“Rick…you…you’re wearing…?”

Rick swallowed and shrugged. “Y-Yeah…found it when I was tearing my garage apart to find another portal gun.”

“So, y-y-you also read the tag?” Morty asked softly.

Rick used his free hand to take the folded tag out of his pocket. It was already getting worn from being in his pants pocket and his physical effort since he found it.

“Do you,” Morty swallowed and his grasp on Rick’s wrist tightened. “Do you feel the-”

Rick wrenched his wrist out of Morty’s grasp. “Rick Sanchez doesn’t _feel_ anything,” he huffed before cradling Morty’s head in his hands. “I either am or am not. And with you I become everything. I fucking swear, since you presented it got worse and because of you I am excited, I am angry, I am protective, and I am in love. So the fact that you decided to run off like that? I worked like a dog for two weeks to make a portal gun and ended up in the ICU. The fact I finally found you before anything else happened is a fucking miracle or some shit.”

Morty shivered and he pressed his hands to Rick’s. “I…” He had gone for years thinking he was so wrong for this. That not only was it morally wrong but that he was barking up the wrong tree anyway and Rick would never share the same feelings.

Rick huffed out a sigh and tilted Morty’s face up just that little bit. “I’m not as mad as I was. Y-Y-You need to come back though.”

Morty’s eyes widened a bit. “But the portal gun…i-i-i-it fizzled out when I got here.”

“I fEURGHgured.” Rick kissed Morty’s forehead before pulling back and getting his new spare out of his coat pocket. “Mmm…still enough charge here for another portal.”

“Please…I don’t want to go back,” Morty said softly, “B-Besides…I’m no longer a kid…I-I-I shouldn’t be there anyways…should be on my own…”

Rick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was quiet for a few moments before he huffed. “…Augh, Beth is gonna kill me…” He put in coordinates for a planet in a solar system over. “Fine. I-I-I think you’ll like this place.”


	7. Whenever Stars Go Down and Galaxies Ignite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally putting that explicit rating to use!  
> I'm taking summer classes and am back at work so updates will likely be slower at the moment. I also have a Gravity Falls AU that's drawing me in. This story will get done but I can't promise when.

It had been a couple of days since Morty and Rick had settled on an alien planet. It was a very quiet place. Mostly villages rather than huge cities. While humans with their Alpha and Omega traits had never lived there the locals seemed to understand well enough. He and Rick were mostly left alone and that honestly worked best for them.

Within their first day there, Rick had managed to secure them…well, Morty had to call it a cottage. He had read enough literature in his English classes to see that it was practically the textbook definition of one. Except for the fact it was built out of high-tech steel.

Their cottage had only one bedroom tucked into the eaves. It was a bit of a pain for him to go up and down the stairs every day since they were so steep and narrow but he was finally sharing a bed with Rick. The literal definition of that at the moment. A few kisses here and there but nothing more.

After dinner, Morty went ahead and got ready for bed. It was easier to go upstairs when he was still feeling relatively energized than wait until later. He sat up in the bed with a book to occupy himself until Rick came up. It was a well-worn novel he had grabbed from his room when he ran. Each read through just made it more and more dog-eared.

Rick finally came up about two hours later and slumped onto the bed. Morty dog-eared another page and set his book aside. “What’s going on?”

“EURGH, trying to find a way to-to let your mom know what’s going on…without giving her and Jerry an astronomical bill for it.”

Morty snorted. “Just stick your head through a portal.”

Rick huffed out a small laugh. “They’d love that I’m sure bEURGHt I still don’t have everything needed to keep our portal guns charged yet. Th-Th-This planet is surprisingly overmined.”

Morty shrugged and settled back against his pillow. “We have time.”

Rick looked at him and watched him for a few moments. He sighed and laid his hand on Morty’s belly. “It seems like it…but a month goes by really quickly,” he said softly.

Morty frowned a little and pressed closer to Rick. “Rick…touch me,” he whispered.

“I am.”

“No,” Morty said with a bit of a huff but he relaxed when he realized that Rick was smirking. He huffed and pouted a little. “You’re an ass.”

Rick chuckled and he wrapped an arm around Morty to encourage him to press against him. “You love me. Y-Y-You knew this would happen.”

Morty stuck his tongue out and Rick chased it with a kiss. The teen moaned softly and he tightened his hold on Rick. This kiss felt different. The others were about gentle care and affection (which was a surprise coming from Rick) but this one was about passion. As gentle as it still was, Morty could feel the passionate change.

Rick pulled back and he looked at Morty. He was looking at him so intently that the younger started to blush. “S-Say it again,” he said firmly, “Tell me what you want.”

“You,” Morty said with a soft pant, “I want you. I-I-I want you to touch me. T-T-To…you know…be in me…”

Rick smirked softly. At least he was quite sure that Morty was being totally honest with both himself and Rick. However, now he wanted to question that last bit. Had that really come out of Morty’s mouth?

“Morty, y-you’ve had sex before but you can’t sEURGHy that you want me to fuck you?”

Morty’s blush deepened and he looked away from Rick. “Well it…it’s not like the sex I had before was totally wanted,” he muttered.

Rick frowned and he gently turned Morty’s face to look at him. “…You wanted me…to be the first?” he asked softly. He knew Morty’s feelings for him had gone on for a while but he had no idea the kid had fantasized about giving himself to Rick.

Morty swallowed and nodded. “Yes…”

Rick smirked a little and kissed him again. “I can’t change what happened…but I’ll be the fEURGHst to fuck you outside of a Heat.”

Morty smiled a little and he wrapped his arms around Rick. “Then do it.”

Rick sat back and he tugged his and Morty’s shirt off. His hands settled on Morty’s belly before running up to his chest. “Mmm, not quite what I thought I’d have…but these changes are nice,” he murmured as he pinched and plucked at Morty’s nipples.

Morty gasped and moaned softly. His eyes fluttered shut and he arched his back a little. He had wondered what Rick would think of his body now but it seemed he had nothing to worry about. The faint stirrings of arousal he felt strengthened and his cock started to fill out.

Rick leaned down to tease Morty’s nipple with his mouth. Taking care with Morty’s belly, he aligned their hips and started to rock. The kid was like an open book underneath him. He knew exactly what felt good to him as Morty just had to react.

“R-Rick…” Morty moaned, spreading his legs a bit to try to get a better angle.

“I got you,” Rick growled. “Just a sec.” He hurriedly got his pants off before untying the drawstring on Morty’s pyjama bottoms.

Morty pushed himself up on his elbows so he could see over his belly. Rick’s hands had paused and so he lifted his hips to encourage Rick to remove his pyjama bottoms. “Come on, Rick,” he murmured, “D-D-Don’t wimp on me now.”

Rick snorted and he tucked his fingers into the waistband. “Not gonna wimp out. I’ve been doing this longer.” He pulled the fabric down Morty’s legs and he smirked when he realized that the kid had decided not to wear underwear. “And you’ve been planning.”

Morty blushed and shrugged. “Maybe…”

Rick chuckled darkly and he leaned down to kiss Morty. His hand ran along Morty’s hip and thigh before wrapping around his cock. The moan that elicited sounded like pure heaven.

“Look at this…bit bigger than I thought for an Omega…or is it because its reacting to me?” Rick crooned in Morty’s ear.

“R-Rick please…” Morty squirmed and his hands shot out to squeeze Rick’s shoulders. “N-Need more…want you…don’t tease…”

“Mmm, doesn’t take much to get you worked up.”

Rick pulled back and he gently nudged Morty. “Come on, on your side. Can’t-Can’t take you like this.” He did not trust himself to fuck Morty in this position and be careful with his belly. He didn’t want to hurt Morty. Well, any more than necessary.

Morty of course whined at the loss but he realized pretty quickly what Rick wanted. With just a quick rearrangement of pillows for extra support, Morty was sprawled out on his left side with his right leg hitched up his body as high as he could get it.

While Morty arranged himself, Rick grabbed lube he had stashed in the bedroom and took off his boxers. He settled behind Morty and tested his entrance. Getting wet but not like he would in a Heat. He coated his fingers with lube and started to work the younger one open. “SEURGHo tight,” he muttered against Morty’s shoulder, nipping every so often.

“Heh…ah, Rick…” Morty was panting into a pillow and holding it tightly. He pressed back against the finger and let out low sounds. “M-More…”

Rick just barely kept himself from removing his finger and replacing it with his cock. Instead he worked a second finger into Morty and did his best to stretch him quickly without damaging him. He could tell that Morty had played up this idea of him and Rick having sex. So even though they were both on edge he was not going to make this a bad experience for Morty. Ease him into some of the kinks Rick had instead of shoving him into the deep end.

Once Morty felt pretty comfortably stretched, Rick removed his fingers and slicked up his length. He lined up and he gently nipped Morty’s ear. “Alright?”

Morty shivered and nodded. “Alright…do it…”

Rick wrapped an arm securely around Morty and pressed into him. He felt the teen tense and he was quick to murmur soft things to get him to stay relaxed. The head of his cock finally got past the resistance and Rick was able to seat himself fully in one slow, easy thrust.

“…Good?”

Morty licked his lips and nodded. “’m good…go ahead…please Rick…”

Rick grinned and he lifted Morty’s leg a bit before starting to thrust into him. He kept the pace still a bit slow, more of a luxurious drag, and once he was sure that Morty was fully relaxed and enjoying it did he increase the pace. His hand tightened on Morty’s thigh and he nipped and kissed along Morty’s neck and shoulder.

Morty really was just left to hold on. He was putting himself very much in Rick’s care as this position left him with little ways to move. It felt so good though and Rick knew how to handle him right now. Morty moaned and keened while his hands tightened and tugged on the pillow and blankets alternately. His cock throbbed but neither he nor Rick made a move to touch it. There was a feeling that Rick wanted him to come untouched. A particularly good thrust made Morty toss his head. That idea might actually be possible.

Rick kept any moans to himself and only let out a few audible sounds. Mainly grunts. He found Morty’s sweet spot and angled himself to keep hitting his prostate. He was almost desperate to see Morty come without needing a hand on his cock. To know that his Alpha-ness alone could get Morty off. With the extra hormones in Morty’s system, Rick was sure it would happen.

“R-Rick…please…I-I need…”

Rick growled and he dug his nails into Morty’s thigh. “You can…don’t need a-anything…”

Morty whined at that but Rick started to thrust harder. He gasped and moaned and did his best to shut his mind up. He just needed to feel. He was being claimed by the Alpha he wanted after all. His brain should be as minimal a player as possible right now.

“Rick…I-I ca-Rick please!”

Morty cried out and Rick focused to get in a few more hard thrusts. That did it. He could feel the very moment that Morty gave himself up to his orgasm and tensed. Rick groaned and he bit down on Morty’s shoulder to muffle his own orgasmic moans as he filled Morty.

The pair pant softly as they slowly came down from their respective orgasmic highs. Rick slowly pulled out of Morty and helped the teen settle on his back again. Morty’s hand was on his belly and out of concern Rick pressed his to it.

Instead of something feeling wrong, the little one was just suddenly active. Rick couldn’t help but smile softly.

“Your heart rate…I-I don’t think they like it…”

Morty smiled softly and he shrugged. “Probably not…it feels a little weird…”

“Mmm, not used to this much acrobatics?” Rick asked and Morty shook his head. “They’ll calm down.”

Rick gave a gentle tap to Morty’s belly before getting to his feet. He stretched and then stumbled into the bathroom to wet a washcloth. He came back to the bed and gently cleaned Morty up. The teen was still shivering periodically with aftershocks and, although Rick liked to tease him, he didn’t want to make the boy upset with him.

Morty did eventually whine and pushed Rick’s hand away. “I-I’m c-clean already…”

Rick tossed the washcloth towards the bathroom and splayed out on the bed. He fumbled with the blanket but managed to pull it over Morty and somewhat over himself. He was quite content to lay completely bare. If someone bothered them, what they saw would be their fault. He closed his eyes and was sure that he and Morty were just going to drift off to sleep.

“Mmm…Rick?”

“Yeah?”

“…Is there…I mean, there’s probably not…”

Rick sighed and rolled onto his side to look at Morty. “Is there what, Morty?”

“…Is there like…a-a-a prophecy or something about any-any kids I have?” Morty asked softly, not quite able to meet Rick’s eyes as if scared of the answer.

“What? W-Why would there be?” Rick asked. He was getting rather confused now and Morty didn’t help by just huffing and gesturing around himself.

“Well-I mean-You and I are essentially destined or something, right? O-Our brain waves are opposite. S-S-So we’re destined across dimensions to be together in some sense…” Morty swallowed and sighed. “What about any future generations?”

It finally clicked what Morty was asking. He was asking for an out. Rick frowned a little. He had not thought about adoption because he was so worried that there was a huge, multi-dimensional reason to keep this child.

Rick sighed and he nudged Morty. “Yeah, our brains are wired to work t-t-together. However... th-th-there’s universes where I-I don’t have Beth or Beth doesn’t h-have you or Summer…So th-the multiverse really just doesn’t _care_.”

Morty looked up at Rick and he smiled softly. “Y-You sure it doesn’t care?”

“Trust me, the multiverse couldn’t g-give a shit.” Rick flopped down with a small huff. After a few moments he felt Morty press close to him and he wrapped an arm around the teen. “Th-The only person that needs to care is you.”

“…And you…”

Rick smiled softly and he pressed a quick kiss to Morty’s forehead. “For this…just you. Really.”

Morty nodded and he relaxed against Rick’s side. He tugged on the blanket and Rick covered them better. He could feel in Morty’s muscles that he was finding it easier to consider what to do. Hopefully there would be no regrets whatever he chose.


	8. When Galaxies Collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Found an ending for this. After this there'll be two more chapters. I'm not sure if I want to post quickly or finish it up slowly.   
> This is the birth scene. If anyone doesn't want to read that part, look for the *** and then skip to the next set of those symbols.

After a few more days on this new planet, Rick finally found a good way to contact Beth and Jerry. Using an alien computer, he was able to connect to his computer back in his garage lab. From there he managed to make a phone call and it would show up on Beth and Jerry’s bill as a local call. Score one for science!

Beth and Morty talked for a while. Rick was starting to check his watch the longer it went on. He knew the two needed to talk considering the note they left on but this was still a phone call on an unstable line. He really hoped Beth or, more likely, Jerry didn’t try to call the number back as it was likely to end up causing their phone line to explode.

Morty finally hung up and he looked much more relaxed than Rick had seen him in months. The older man couldn’t help but smile.

“Better?”

“Mhmm, better.”

Rick ruffled his hair. “C-Come on then. Let’s go get something to eat.”

 

Rick slowly grew more and more frustrated the longer they stayed on that planet. A lot of the planet’s important elements had already been mined out. There were still a few less precious things but they were useless to Rick. There was nothing on that planet that could be used to power the portal guns, or even just one.

He could probably find something on a nearby planet but that would be a long flight and he would have to bring Morty. At this stage, Morty was not riding very comfortably in the ship. This left very few options for Rick to get the needed elements. Mostly it was just trying to make sure any trading aliens on this planet were aware of his need and trying to contact other planets’ traders. Right now, it seemed that most everyone he had contacted had conveniently “forgotten” what he needed.

Maybe it was him being human. Maybe it was him being so insistent. Maybe it was just his general pain-in-the-ass-ness. Whatever it was, he was not happy that he still did not have a working portal gun. Especially with Morty so close to his due date. Every single wince or groan had him staring at the teen.

Where would they go when it was time? Morty was such a wuss that the idea of a “home birth” had been shot down quite thoroughly. Rick could handle it if something happened but Morty had grown up with the cultural norm of a hospital birth and that was what he wanted. Fine. He could have that.

One small problem.

Rick had seen the quote unquote hospital this species used. Despite their advance building materials and interplanetary trade, their hospital looked more like an over-the-top shaman’s tent. Rick had seen some shamans do amazing things but he and Morty had gone for a check-up and Morty was looked at with confusion and slight revulsion. They had no idea what to do with him.

That certainly put a kink in the hospital birth plan. Rick would have to take Morty to an interplanetary hospital on a nearby moon. So, he had to know as soon as the teen was having real contractions.

Morty had been having false alarms for the past week and it was driving Rick up the wall. He had only been around for Beth’s birth not Summer’s or Morty’s so he had forgotten how annoying and how long the false contractions could last. The teen, who had done plenty of research, ended up being much more relaxed about it. That only made Rick more antsy.

The only time Rick was able to fully relax was when he finally got to sleep.

And of course it would be in that moment that Morty would wake him up by shaking his shoulder and whining.

“Rick…Rick come on… _Rick_ wake up…”

Rick snorted and groaned, his eyes blinking a few times. “Ugh…what? Wh-What’s going on, Morty?”

Morty grimaced a little and in the dim light Rick could see his cheeks were red. “It hurts, Rick. I-I-I think this is r-r-real.”

Rick snapped awake and he sat up. He fumbled for his wristwatch and pressed a hand to Morty’s belly. “H-Have you timed?” Morty whimpered and shook his head. “A-Alright, let me.”

It was a tense few moments. Rick could tell that Morty was very sure this was real but he wanted to be absolutely sure before he forced Morty into the ship. What he felt under his palm definitely felt stronger than the false ones and it lasted longer.

“’kay, I believe you.”

Rick dressed quickly and grabbed the bag that Morty had packed what seemed like weeks ago. He got Morty to his feet and wrapped an arm around him to help him down the stairs. He got Morty into the passenger seat and even leaned it back for him to help ease some of the discomfort. Rick hurried to his side and tossed the bag behind him.

“J-Just focus on your breathing or some shit,” Rick muttered as he turned the ship on and ready for lift off.

“You…You sure you’ve done this before?” Morty quipped with a soft smirk.

“Yeah. JEURGHst thirty-something years ago.”

The spaceship finally broke free of the planet’s gravity and Rick steered it towards the interplanetary hospital. It was on a nearby moon but nearby in space still meant hundreds of thousands of miles. He cursed under his breath about incompetent traders and miners. This could still take a solid hour or more. Especially if the asteroid fields decided to chunk pieces of rock around.

***

Morty kept whimpering and groaning every so often. He would fidget and squirm and bit his lip. It was distracting for Rick but he managed to stay focused. There was nothing he could do for Morty right now. Within forty-five minutes though the teen was a mess and was far from quiet. Rick was trying not to worry but this seemed wrong. And it was only made worse when Morty started to beg.

“Please…please Rick…it hurts…please…it hurts so much…Rick…make it stop…”

Rick cursed and checked their course. He had no idea what he should do but Morty needed him and it didn’t seem like he could stand to wait the estimated half hour left. Rick clenched his jaw and set the ship to autopilot.

“Calm down, Morty.”

Rick leaned over and pulled the seat lever to lay the kid out as flat as possible. Morty gasped softly at the sudden change but he was soon back to groaning. “R-Rick…”

“I got ya.”

Rick tugged the teen’s pyjama pants down and tossed them behind the seats. Morty’s legs fell open and Rick’s eyes widened.

“Oh of _course_ this would happen,” he muttered, gently running his thumb along Morty’s perineum. There was a thin puckered “seam” there. This was the external birth canal and by now it should have been long open and ready to go.

“Wh-What’s going on?”

Rick searched around the ship until he found a scalpel and a bottle of booze. “YEURGHou would be an Omega wh-who’s birth canal i-is not open despite being so far into labor.”

Morty’s eyes widened. “W-Will I have to-?” He was cut off by a contraction but Rick knew what he was asking.

“End up delivering through the smaller anal-vaginal canal? No, thank fuck. J-Just need to do a little cutting.” Rick stuck the scalpel into the bottle and shook it a little to make sure the blade got into the remaining alcohol.

“Rick…”

“Trust me, right?”

Morty swallowed and nodded. He was in more pain than he thought he should be. He knew he was a bit of a wuss when it came to pain but he had been more sure he could handle this. If this was the problem then he had to trust Rick.

“Alright. Bite on this.”

Rick grabbed Morty’s discarded pyjama bottoms and shoved them into the teen’s mouth. He braced the younger’s legs with his elbows and made a smooth, quick cut along the bulging skin. As soon as he did, he realized what was likely causing so much discomfort. A gush of amniotic fluid spilled over his hands.

“Jeez h-how long ago did your water actually break?”

Morty whined and shook his head. He had no idea. He had woken up to painful contractions. For all either of them knew, his water could have actually broken earlier that evening or even earlier that day.

“Feeling better?”

Morty spat out the fabric in his mouth and nodded. “Y-yeah actually…”

“Good.” Rick dried his hands and checked their course. “About twenty more minutes. J-Just stay there and t-try to stay calm.”

 It really seemed like things were going to be progressing normally from that point. They were going to get to the hospital and Morty would be taken into a delivery room. He would be given some pain medication and the birth would go smoothly.

The gasps and groans and cries of pains started up again though. This was clearly not progressing as normal. Rick should have realized that the moment he noticed the birth canal had not opened. He glanced over at Morty periodically and his eyes widened when he noticed bulging between his legs.

Rick threw the ship back into autopilot, all the while muttering curses. “Easy, Morty, easy. S-Steady. Not t-too hard.”

The ship let out a beep and a landing announcement. Good. Maybe there would still be enough time to get Morty inside the hospital.

Morty pushed again and Rick did his best to ease the burn and press against the tender skin. He was too close to crowning already.

The ship landed surprisingly smoothly and Rick threw open the roof. He needed to cause enough attention to get someone to come outside. He kicked the ship’s alarm to go off to get somebody’s attention because they were still alone.

A couple of…well, Rick would assume they would be the emergency department’s nurses came out to see about the commotion. He turned the alarm off so he could be heard.

“Can’t move him! He’s giving birth here! I need supplies!”

Morty cried out and Rick quickly turned back to the teen. He heard approaching footsteps but he didn’t have to look up. The alien had a bundle of supplies and opened it for Rick and held it within easy reach. They apparently believed that Rick had this under control. Such faith.

Rick’s hand found a warm compress and he quickly pressed it to Morty’s birth canal. “Just like that, Morty. With the contraction. Steady.”

Morty was crying out in pain but Rick’s voice cut through it. He held onto that. Focused on that.

“Very good! Crowning!” Rick found Morty’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “Strong pushes. Listen to me, Morty. Strong pushes now.”

Rick watched with a bit of shock, horror, and a surprising amount of pride, as in just three more good pushes Morty went from crowning to head delivered. He praised the teen all while quickly checking to make sure the idiot was still all in one piece. It seemed a miracle to find only some minor tears. More like papercuts than anything.

“Breathe, breathe, breathe,” Rick kept repeating. He needed Morty to just be still for the moment. He checked the baby’s neck for the presence of the cord and let out a breath he had no idea he was holding when he realized everything was still going just fine.

“Alright, easy pushes. Th-They should turn a little.”

Morty complied but watching his face it seemed like he wasn’t even paying attention. He was obviously in pain but he was much more quiet. It was as if he was starting to get to a point beyond pain. He was feeling so much that his mind was starting to just ignore it.

Rick supported the head and he grinned when there was a bit of a turn. “Good! Strong pushes! You’re almost done! Come on, Morty!”

Morty pushed and his mouth twisted in a silent scream. Rick reluctantly let go of his hand to support the baby. While he knew Morty was in a lot of pain and was weak, it only took two more good pushes for the baby to land in Rick’s hands.

Rick quickly wrapped the newborn in a towel and rubbed it down quickly. Morty had collapsed back against the seat but he was still listening closely and his body was tense. The infant finally coughed and then cried. Rather loudly.

“Heh. T-Takes after you.”

Morty let out a tired little chuckle at that. He had done it. And without any of the hospital interventions he had been so sure he would need.

Rick passed the bundled newborn to one of the nurses. They should be able to move Morty now. There should be less risk with the passing of the afterbirth than there was with the actual birth. As if reading his mind, a blanket was unfolded next to him and one side was held out for him to take. Between Rick and two alien nurses, they managed to gently get Morty onto the blanket.

“D-Doing good?”

Morty nodded. “Yeah…hurts a little…”

“Afterbirth. We’ll take care of that inside. Everything’s looking just fine,” the nearest nurse comforted.

Rick nodded. “Lifting on three.”

***

In one smooth motion, Morty was moved from the ship to a stretcher and the emergency staff wheeled him inside quickly. Rick was left with bloody hands and a bloody towel. He cleaned up himself and the ship as best as possible and grabbed a change of clothes he kept there for emergencies. After locking the ship he made his way inside to find Morty.


	9. Give Me The Words to Say to Make it Enough

Morty was settled into a room on the labor and delivery ward once the afterbirth was delivered and he was thoroughly looked over. The room was just noticeably cool and he found it very comfortable from his blanket bundle. He had already drifted off to sleep by the time Rick was allowed into his room.

Rick settled down on the plain hospital sofa and finally relaxed. Morty was fine. The nurse had said the baby was fine. Despite the unplanned entrance to the world, everything had gone alright. He had done something right.

His head settled back against the sofa and he closed his eyes. For a few moments, both of them could just relax. Think of nothing. Worry about nothing.

Morty woke up near lunch time. For a few moments, he was disoriented but it all came back to him as the aches in his body started to settle back in. He slowly sat up, groaning softly.

Rick started a little and looked over at Morty blearily. He blinked a couple of times before he got to his feet. “M-Morty…you’re awake…”

Morty looked up at Rick and he smiled softly. “H-Hey Rick…how’d it go?”

Rick grinned. “You did amazing.”

Morty’s smile widened and he visibly relaxed. Rick chuckled and kissed Morty’s forehead. “Do you need anything?” he asked softly.

“Some food? Haven’t had anything since last night’s dinner.” Morty’s stomach grumbled as if on cue and Rick smirked.

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can find.”

Morty settled back against his pillows and watched Rick head out the door. The steel door had barely closed when it opened again. One of the alien nurses came in. And they were carrying a bundle in one set of their arms. Morty’s eyes widened and he sat up a bit further.

“Hello there. We saw your friend leave and figured you were awake and would want to see your little one,” the alien said in what sounded oddly like a Southern American accent as they headed over to the bed.

“O-Oh actually I-I-I’m n-not sure…” Morty stammered, staring at the bundle.

The nurse paused and her three eyes widened. “Oh! Are you considering adoption?” When Morty swallowed and nodded she smiled and reached out with one of her arms to pat his shoulder. “Well don’t worry then honey, if you want to see them you just let us know, okay? Don’t force yourself.”

“Y-You’re not gonna force me to…?”

“What? Hold them? Look at them? Heavens no! This is a difficult choice and you can handle it however you need to. Really, dear, if you change your mind just press the call button.” She tapped it gently and squeezed his shoulder again. “We do have a special social services department in the hospital. We’re an interplanetary hospital so they’re used to dealing with interplanetary and interspecies adoptions.”

“Really? I-I figured we’d do that on Earth,” Morty murmured, eyes dropping to the bundle at a small coo.

“Earth is just five light years away. Our social services department can easily make Earth arrangements for you.” The nurse noticed the infant getting more restless and pulled back. “I’ll tell them to pop in later and have a chat. You have a good lunch, sweetie.”

She stepped out just as quietly as she had come in and Morty wondered for a moment if it had been a fever dream.

Rick came in a few minutes later with two plates of food. He made a bit of a face as he sat down next to Morty’s bed and arranged the teen’s plate. “I-I-I-Interplanetary hospital and the cafeteria _still_ sucks. Hope you like soup and crackers for lunch _and_ dinner.”

Morty smiled softly and opened one of the cracker packages. “This should be fine. M-Maybe they’ll have a different soup for dinner.”

Rick shrugged. “MaEURGHybe. Can’t trust hospital cafeterias.”

Morty was certainly hungry but he ate slowly. It looked like he was fiddling with his food at times, stirring the soup with a cracker and whatnot. He wanted to just eat but his mind was full of questions and what-ifs. He couldn’t get it to shut up. He had no idea what to do.

Rick noticed how little Morty had eaten and he frowned a bit. He was no expert in birth, not being capable of it himself, but he was quite sure that Morty needed quite a bit of calories now. “Hey. Chiquito.”

Morty made a soft noise and lifted his gaze to Rick.

“What’s going on?”

Morty opened his mouth to at first deny that something was wrong but he closed it to think about his words. “…This hospital has social services…and they can work on Earth…”

Rick made a soft noise and set his food down. “So, you have really been thinking about adoption,” he said softly.

Morty nodded. “I don’t want them to have mine and Summer’s life. Parents that argue all the time and feeling like we’re the cause of our parents unachieved dreams. They’re innocent. They don’t deserve that.”

Rick swallowed hard. He knew those feelings and he was really just glad that Morty had a chance to give this little one a different life. “You sound quite certain.”

Morty snorted. “Just certain enough. I carried them for nine months and gave birth to them. A part of me will always want them. But…But I know what I can and can’t do for them…”

Rick took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright. So, h-how do you wanna do this?”

Morty poked at his soup for a few seconds as he thought over his decision. He wanted to be sure about what he was going to say. If he was uncertain, then Rick was going to be even more concerned about him.

“I-I want to talk to the social services but…I want to see them while I do it. I need to see them once. If-If I don’t…I’m worried that…that I’ll forget them,” Morty trailed off and he sniffled. “I need to remember them.”

Rick wasn’t sure if it was a healthy idea but compared to what the rest of the family had done Morty’s request sounded like the sanest idea ever. He nodded and leaned over to kiss Morty’s forehead.

“Okay. Okay, we can do that. Just eat first,” Rick prodded. “G-G-God knows how many calories you used up.”

Morty let out a small huff and smiled. His stomach did no longer feel like it was full of butterflies. Or writhing snakes. Whatever. He finally felt comfortable enough to eat. He was sure about his decision and Rick was supporting him. That alone was more than he could have ever asked for.

 

A couple of hours after their lunch, Rick stepped out of the room to speak with a nurse. He arranged for a social services agent to come to Morty’s room and for them to bring the baby.

It took about fifteen minutes for there to be a knock at the door. A humanoid alien stepped inside with a briefcase and the newborn bundled up. She smiled at Morty and pulled up a chair near Morty’s bed.

“Hello there Morty. My name’s Andromeda Propinquus. I’ve been informed you’re interested in adoption for this little one.”

Morty swallowed and nodded. “Yes, back on Earth,” he said softly, “I…I want them to have a happy, normal life so, no offense, no aliens…”

“No offense at all. It’s understandable to want to keep her with her kind,” Andromeda assured.

Morty’s eyes widened a bit and he made a soft noise. “A girl?”

Andromeda nodded and a bit of purple hair slipped out of her neat bun. She pushed it back into place before settling the newborn carefully in Morty’s arms. “Yes, a girl. Perfectly healthy.”

Morty stared in wonder at the tiny thing. She was sleeping peacefully and looked so perfect. He had made her and a part of him was desperate to keep her. But the longer he looked at her the more he knew he wanted her to have better than he could provide.

“…She’s beautiful,” he whispered.

Rick had leaned over when Morty was handed the baby. He was worried about this moment. But it seemed that Morty was still secure in what he had chosen. He looked at the baby and he smirked softly.

“LEURGHks like you.”

“Like I said, she’s beautiful.” Morty looked up at Rick and grinned. Rick snorted and ruffled Morty’s hair.

Andromeda simply smiled and she pulled out some paperwork from her briefcase. “Still sure about going forward with an adoption?”

Morty nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Open or closed?”

Morty made a soft noise and thought it over. He knew if someone really wanted information in a closed adoption it could be gotten. If his little girl ever grew up and was desperate to know then she could find the information with help.

“…Closed,” he said softly.

A few more minutes passed with Andromeda asking questions or pressing for more information. In what seemed the blink of an eye, she was ready for him to sign off on the adoption process. Morty took a look through the paperwork to double check before he accepted the pen and signed.

“We’ll let you know when she’s placed but other than that there will be very little contact,” Andromeda said softly and Morty nodded.

Morty sniffled softly and pressed a kiss to his daughter’s forehead. “Please don’t hate me for this,” he whispered, “I love you so much.”

The little girl squirmed a little and blinked up at him. Morty smiled softly at her before passing her carefully back to Andromeda.

Rick and Morty were left alone and the older man sat down on the bed. He ran his fingers through Morty’s hair and then reached out to hold his hand. “…She’ll be okay…a-a-and you’ll get there too.”

Morty squeezed Rick’s hand and nodded. “I know…”

Rick sighed and lay down next to Morty, drawing the teen to curl up in his hold. “I’ve got you, chiquito,” he whispered.

 

Morty was cleared to leave the hospital the next afternoon. He took one last trip to the nursery to look in on his daughter. She was in her bassinet and seemed to be getting sleepy. He just watched her for a few minutes while Rick took care of paperwork and other inane bureaucracies.

As he turned to head back to his room, his nurse gently caught his arm. She smiled at him and held out a small keepsake box. “Andromeda suggested we put this together for you…”

Morty took the box and opened it carefully. His eyes widened as he carefully picked up one of the items inside. It was a picture of him holding her. There was also a picture of her, a tiny pink hat, and a clay disk that had an imprint of her hand.

“It’s not really protocol for an adoption but she felt-”

Morty cut her off and hugged her tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered earnestly. “Thank you.”

The nurse hugged him back just as tightly before letting him go back to his room.

Rick was there waiting with Morty’s clothes laid out on the bed. He had taken the ones he had worn during the birth back to their house to be washed. While there he had packed up all their things and got him fresh clothes to wear.

“REURGHady to g-get out of that stupid gown?” Rick noticed the box in Morty’s hands and he nodded towards it. “What’s that?”

Morty sniffled but he was smiling as he opened it to show Rick. “They put it together for me…I-I won’t f-f-forget her now…”

Rick smiled softly and pulled Morty into a hug. “…You’d never forget her…” he whispered.

Morty made a pleased sound and nuzzled Rick’s shoulder. They stood like that for a few moments before Morty was nudged back.

“Come on, l-l-l-let’s get you dressed.” Rick untied the hospital gown and helped Morty get dressed. He kept his touches light and gentle. He wasn’t trying to start anything. He just wanted to help and make it easier for Morty.

Morty followed Rick out of the hospital, glad to be free. A part of him ached for the little girl he was leaving but he knew she was going to be given a better chance.

“So,” Rick started once they were both settled in his ship again. “Where are we going? I’ve already moved us out of th-that stupidly small house.”

Morty nudged him. “It wasn’t that bad…fit the two of us comfortably. Together.”

Rick smirked. “Yeah, true.”

“So where to?” Morty leaned over and kissed Rick softly. “Everywhere. Show me w-w-what you’ve seen. Every galaxy.”

“Everywhere? Mmm, that’ll take some time. This is a multiverse after all.”

“Everywhere. I want to see it all. E-Every place and every possibility.”

Rick grinned and turned the ship on. “I know exactly where to take you.” The ship lifted off. “But fEURGHrst, we’re going home and-and resting.”

Morty pouted a bit but he knew Rick was right. He needed rest. At home. With his family.

“Home.”


	10. I'll Show Every Ghost in Me...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this is the last chapter! Bit of an epilogue to the main gist of the story. I've left it open to possible sequels if I get the spark when the new season comes out (if anyone else wants to make snippets or fics based off this, feel free to do so! Just link it to me so I can read it! My tumblr is also neutrinobomb!)  
> This has been a lot of fun to write and I thank you all for joining me on this ride!

Morty and Rick stayed on Earth for two months. Beth had been so glad to see them. Morty couldn’t remember the last time she had hugged him so tight. Or when he held her just as tightly.

Rick had been right that Morty would need the rest. He was mobile but he was still so sore and exhausted. If he could, he would have spent his entire day in a bath. Probably wouldn’t be safe or healthy but it sounded like such a wonderful idea.

Beth and Rick were having more late-night talks in the living room. About Jerry, about Morty, about Summer, about the grandchild who might never know them. They would share a bottle of wine and talk in Spanish. A few times Morty was up late enough to catch snippets and he wanted to join them. Talk about the message they had gotten that his daughter had been placed in a home somewhere on Earth. Then he remembered how remedial his Spanish was and decided against it. This was obviously something his mom liked doing with her father.

While back home they laid low. Morty was back in his room and Rick in the garage but they stole every moment they could. Now that they had each other they weren’t willing to lose it so easily. Beth left to go see Jerry for a meeting and Morty spent the whole day in Rick’s room. He wasn’t sure the last time he had held onto the other so tightly. He couldn’t even let him go to move around.

 

“Morty. M-Morty, come on. Wake up.”

Morty groaned and his eyes fluttered open. He rolled onto his back and looked up at Rick…who had two packed bags with him. “W-Wuz goin on?”

“We’re going. To see everything. Let’s go!” Rick tugged his sleep clothes off and shoved a shirt over his head.

“A-Alright! Alright!” Morty bat Rick’s hands away and dressed himself. “Did you pack everything yourself? Again?”

“Everything’s ready to go. ‘Cept you.”

Morty got to his feet with a small huff and shoved his feet into his shoes. “I’m ready, I’m ready. Let’s go”

Rick grinned and tugged Morty down to the garage. The ship was gone and Morty looked around with a frown. “Uh…Ri-”

“I shrunk it. It’s right here.” Rick pulled out what looked like a keychain from his pocket. Morty looked closer and it was indeed his ship with stuff in it. “I’ll grEURGHw it again later. We’re portalling this time.”

“Where are we portalling to? Did you let Mom know?”

“Yeah, told her last night. That’s why she hugged you so tight.” Rick pulled out his portal gun and aimed it at the wall. He shot a portal off and grinned at Morty. “You’re going to like it.”

Morty smiled softly and accepted Rick’s hand as they stepped through the portal.

And into a busy street.

Morty’s eyes widened and he quickly pressed close to Rick. The older just laughed and tugged him down the street. “Welcome to San Angelo. Stock show and rodeo this weekend. Gets a bEURGHt busy.”

Morty looked around with large eyes as he followed Rick. He couldn’t tell how big the place was but it seemed both big and small. There were soaring buildings from another century and more modern creations. A few people seemed to recognize Rick in a vague way. A voice from somewhere called out.

“Quinqui!”

Rick huffed and didn’t bother to look at who had called him that. He was tempted to flip them off but he was trying to blend in.

The name though made Morty look at Rick and really look at him. “Rick…is this your…?”

“Yeah, this is where I grew up,” he murmured, “Though we lived on the outskirts.”

A shadow fell over them and Morty looked up at what had to be a Spanish church based on the architecture. It looked like a mission like he had learned about in history class though newer.

“St. Mary Parish,” Rick said softly, “Came to Mass every Saturday night with my parents. In Spanish, of course.” He snorted and led Morty inside.

Morty had to blink a few times to let his eye adjust. The church was dim compared to churches he had gone to before. Rick led him with sure steps over to rows of candles and Morty followed along with shuffling feet.

Rick chose a candle to light and he watched the wick catch before he spoke. “…My parents married young. Had a child on the way,” he murmured. “Dad ended up becoming a business man. He…He hated it. He had been planning to work in the church but they ended up stricter than he had anticipated.”

Morty made a soft noise as he absorbed a lot of sudden information about Rick’s past. “…And your mom?” he asked softly.

Rick smiled. “She was wonderful. Sarcastic and loving and smart and she had such a handle on the house. I learned so much from her.”

Morty smiled and pressed close to Rick. “…She’s the one you ask to watch over me.”

Rick started a bit and looked down at Morty. “I say that in Spanish.”

“I know _some_ Spanish.” Morty smirked softly. “I’m smarter than everyone gives me credit for.”

Rick wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him into a tight hug. He pressed a quick kiss to his temple. “You’re so much more than everyone gives you credit for.”

“Thank you…for bringing me here. I-I-I’ve wanted to know more about you since…since…” Morty honestly couldn’t remember the first day that urge took hold of him.

“Since I came back?” Rick suggested and Morty nodded.

“Yes.” Morty pulled back and took Rick’s hand. “Now let’s go see the rest of it.”

“That’s a lot of places and universes,” Rick warned with a grin as he followed Morty out of the church.

“I want to see it all.” Morty reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiny imprint of his daughter’s hand. “I want to show it all to her.”

Rick squeezed Morty’s hand tightly. “We’ll climb all over this city for her. And for you.”

“And then?” Morty asked with a grin.

“Then we head to California. And then out into the universe.”

“I love you, Rick.”

Rick tugged Morty into a park and found a grove of trees that hid them nicely. He had moved with a practiced ease that let Morty know this was a familiar hiding spot. He cupped Morty’s face in his hands and pulled him into a gentle kiss.

“I love you too, Morty.”


End file.
